I guess I've always been a swirling mix of feminist and traditional woman. As a child I liked to imagine myself as a princess, and I daydreamed of wearing dresses all the time. One year in elementary school, I did wear a dress every day. I was trying to become Anne of Green Gables. I also played football with Jeremy Reynolds, Stuart Hart, Shaun Bergin and any other boy that showed up in Jeremy's back yard. I was faster than them all, too.
I believed wholeheartedly in time travel, and knew that if I just found the portal, I could go back in time to when women were ladies, drank their tea, and oversaw the home. I also wanted to be a lawyer like the women on "LA Law".
As I grew older, I knew that what I really wanted to do was be a wife and mother. If I happened onto a job that I liked in addition to that, well, fine, but I mainly wanted what I have now.
I've always liked to joke that I was born in the wrong century. It's true that I dislike the vulgarity, ugly clothes, ugly buildings and general nastiness of our day. But there are so many wonderful things about being a woman right now.
I've read so many books and seen so many period movies that underline the fact that women simply weren't free to live as they pleased. If a single woman became impoverished, but still wished to remain a lady, her options were to marry well, or to become a governess. Maybe a couple of other options, but really that's about it. And what if she did marry well, and she discovered her husband was a monster? Well, she was simply trapped, as far as I've read. Denying anyone freedom to conduct their lives is simply wrong. It doesn't matter if we agree with the way they live or not.
I feel that mothers are best at home. Anyone who reads this blog can see that plainly. But, I'm glad that there is freedom there for women who feel they must be out in the world for whatever reason. I'm relieved for them that they do not suffer social ostracism for it. I'm glad I live in the time that I do. I still think I'd go back in time, if I could...but I'm learning to appreciate the liberation of modern times.
